I follow Positive Outlooks on Facebook, and tonight (Thanksgiving night) this particular post struck a chord with me.

The search for Lady over this past week has often felt like a chase. Every sighting has meant a quick jump in the car and a race to the location in hopes of finally bringing her home. When the outcome did not lead to the happy ending that I so very much desired, it was quite disappointing. I know many of you have felt that way because you have been out there searching too.

In some ways, I have been chasing the wrong things. My fear that I might miss that one clue or that one lead, or that I might miss that one chance to see Lady myself, led me to near exhaustion and a bit of craziness. The fear that I might be home sleeping or out on a walk when I could have been there at that exact moment she appeared was driving me crazy. Yes, there are volunteers out there searching when I am not. Yes, I know that people have seen the fliers and the signs and have read Lady’s story and are looking too, but somehow I felt that I needed to be the one person who was always out there looking for her. Somehow I thought that if I were out there she would just miraculously appear – for me. Silly huh? The mind does crazy things to you sometimes.

So, the last two days I have taken a step back from the search and disconnected. I took the dogs to the dog park. I worked for a bit. I actually had a real conversation with some friends. Uninterrupted. I had Thanksgiving dinner with my family and I played ball with Jasper and gave Daisy a belly rub. Along the way, I began to realize that I cannot be everywhere at once. I cannot make Lady come to me by sheer will or by constantly chasing after her.

That doesn’t mean I am not still looking. I was out with Estelle and Susan from Minnesota Sheltie Rescue this evening checking traps (according to Estelle, there is one very pissed off cat out there tonight) and leaving behind treats and things that smell like me. I put a few fliers in mailboxes too. But, I did not drive around for hours on end, searching every little corner of Eagan, nor did I stake out a location in hopes that Lady would appear just because I was there. The truth is that no one knows what will be the one thing that brings her home. What I do know is that chasing the wrong things is not going to bring Lady home any sooner.

So maybe if I stop chasing the wrong things and instead focus on the right things – spreading the word, sharing her story, handing out fliers (with the help from friends and volunteers), I can let Lady catch me on her own terms and in her own way.

One can hope. :)

Update: Today we had no sightings at all, but in some ways that is comforting. It means Lady is not crossing busy streets. She’s not putting her life in danger. It likely means she’s hunkered down somewhere and staying where she is – for now. And even though we had no sightings, does not mean that people were not our looking for her. There were volunteers and staff from Minnesota Sheltie Rescue, Lady’s former foster mom, Dawn, and a client, Renee, and a reader, Jess, and many, many others. There were also the prayers of so many people. I still believe that those prayers will make the difference.

Tomorrow, we will be out canvasing the area again with more volunteers. We hope that we can zero in on her location or at least pass out more fliers in a much wider area to increase the chances that someone will see her.

How you can help:

Our MNSR FOSTER SHELTIE, Lady, is still LOST in EAGAN, MN. Call 612-616-7477 with any sightings (even if not recently). Program these numbers into your cell as you drive the area, in case you spot Lady. Please give time, exact location of sighting, and the direction the dog headed. DO NOT follow her, try to catch her or call out to her – this will spook her from the area and may cause her to run onto a busy road.

Possible sightings as recently as 11/22 near Pilot Knob Road; Duckwood, Kingswood Pond neighborhood, CrestRidge Lane and Denmark; Crestview and Duckwood; Monterey and Blackhawk Road, and possibly even Rosemount. Sighting/search info is available by visiting Minnesota Sheltie Rescue on Facebook and at our map.

We have distributed approximately 4000 flyers, put up signs, alerted police, impound, vet clinics, area businesses and colleges, the school bus company, city of Eagan, Eagan Chamber of commerce, used Robo-calls, posted online, cross-posted to other rescues, on Facebook, etc.-everything in our Lost Sheltie search tips. Live traps are set in areas where we think she may be holed up, and we respond to every possible sighting.

Contact us if you have a spare hour to do flyers. Sighting/search info here. It is not uncommon for some time to go by before we are successful, but we do not give up!

Thanksgiving Day is upon us, and while you might not think that I could be grateful on a day when Lady is still missing, I am. There is so much to celebrate on this special holiday.

– All the volunteers with Minnesota Sheltie Rescue who have given up time in their day, and in their lives, to help search for Lady, hand out fliers, post signs, and manage the behind the scenes coordinating it takes to pull off a search this large.

– All my friends and family members who have offered support and encouragement when I was feeling at my lowest.

– All the “strangers”, who I now prefer to think of as friends, who have offered to help in any way they could to help find Lady – driving around where she was last seen, handing out fliers, sharing her story with friends on Facebook or Twitter, watching out for her as they drive through town, etc.

– All the people who took action and called us to let us know they had seen her and where she was headed and what she did. Every call is a clue to a much bigger puzzle and with every puzzle piece placed, we get closer to finding Lady.

– Warm weather. I might be totally wrong, after all I am not a meteorologist, but I don’t remember many Thanksgivings being this warm. It means I can breathe a little easier knowing Lady is not freezing cold or out there in the middle of a snowstorm.

– My puppy dogs. Last Friday was a freak accident, but I fully recognize that in all that chaos I could have lost all three dogs to a car or something just as bad. That none of them were hit is a miracle in itself. Lady may still be missing, but she is alive and people are watching out for her and praying for her. And when I am feeling down, Daisy and Jasper are there to comfort me. For all of that I am truly grateful.

Reading all your comments and heartfelt hopes and prayers has been very comforting to me. I know now that I don’t have control over what happens to Lady, or how long it will take to bring her home, but I do know that all of this good energy is not being put to waste. It’s making me, and I suspect you, feel grateful for what we do have and how blessed we truly are on this special day. Hug your dogs. Hug your family, and know that today is a day we can all be grateful for.

Latest update: No sightings of Lady today. Volunteers were out searching, checking traps and making new fliers with a side view of Lady. I, and it appears at least one other volunteer, staked out the Marriott tonight in hopes of seeing Lady. I sat on the ground for a while in the area nearest to where she had crossed Pilot Knob Road, but never saw her. After a while got too cold to stay and so I left behind some food and one of her favorite toys.

Not one to leave things be, I stopped off at Walgreens to buy some more dog food, Kibbles and Bits, to entice her out. I filled the food dish and then sat in my car at a distance to see if she would come out. No luck. But, I did get a sense of when traffic quiets down in that area and I think I’ll have a better idea of when to come next time.

I am really hoping the food will keep her on that side of Pilot Knob Road until we can move a trap closer to that area and add another live trap further down. I am hoping beyond hope that she will go into a trap on Thanksgiving Day and give us all something to celebrate.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Come home Lady.

You can read more about the search for Lady and how she was found in the posts listed below.

Update (3:50 PM CST) – No new sightings of Lady today. There was one sighting north of Yankee Doodle, but this dog had a collar so we are sure it is not her.

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Normally, today would be my Wordless Wednesday post and I would be trying to decide which picture to post. But, today is not a normal day. Instead, our search continues.

– People can be amazing in a time of crisis. Twice yesterday I had complete strangers offer to help because they had heard about Lady’s story. One couple Michele and Steven live in my neighborhood and offered to get the signs from the city so we could use them again. Another, Dena, a teacher in Dakota County,offered to drive around for a few hours and look for Lady. I even ran into her last night and she said she would keep looking.

- Spreading the word is so very important – fliers, signs and word of mouth. I received 6 calls yesterday. All people who thought they had seen Lady and wanted to help. God bless them for calling. It widens the search area quite a bit, but the fact that people were watching out for her and were willing to call me or Minnesota Sheltie Rescue and report it is wonderful. It means that there are hundreds more eyes out there than just ours. It makes a huge difference.

– Sometimes when helping you to find your dog, people also help someone else find their missing dog. Yesterday, I received a call from a Joanne, who thought she had seen Lady. It wasn’t far from where we were looking (based on a previous call), so I asked a lot of questions and texted her a picture. She called back and apologized (no apology necessary, trust me) because she had run into the owners of that dog and they were looking for him. Because she was watching out for Lady she noticed a dog running by itself and reached out to help. She was able to tell them where he went. That is wonderful isn’t it?

Also, while out on that same call about Lady, volunteers and staff for Minnesota Sheltie Rescue came across another dog who was in the same location as Lady iss suspected to be (in fact, we thought it was her at first). This dog iss clearly lost as well. A trap has been set for him. I’m hoping we catch him and he is reunited with his owner soon.

– There are SO many people who have lost a pet and had it return. I have received Comments on my blog, on Facebook and even on Twitter from people who have been through this with their own pets, or a foster pet. The fact that so many have come back, even months later, gives me hope.

– Taking care of yourself in the midst of searching for a lost dog is so very, very important. Although, Estelle and the other staff and volunteers from Minnesota Sheltie Rescue, have said repeatedly that I need to take care of myself so I can be healthy and ready to help when that ONE call comes in, I haven’t taken it as seriously as I should have. I reached burnout last night, or maybe it was shut down. The ups and downs, the constant searching, the handing out of fliers, posting signs, talking to people and sharing the message, while all valuable, is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting and I couldn’t do one more thing last night. So while many, many volunteers were out looking for Lady (based on two very good eyewitness accounts), I came home. I was emotionally void and physically spent after chasing down leads and searching several locations over several hours last night.

So today I am taking a step back to take care of some of the things I have been putting off because the search had consumed so much of me, my life (and Daisy and Jasper’s lives). I’ll be working from home, but I will be focused on the work I neglected at my job while I was out searching for Lady. I’ll also be conserving my energy for the calls that come in so I can race to where she was seen and help catch her. What I have realized is that if I am shut down when that right call comes in then I am no help to Lady at all. That’s what happened last night and I can’t let it happen again. And, you can’t forget that life has to go on too. The world can’t wait until you can catch up again.

So here is where we stand as of last night.

Yesterday, we received several sightings in Eagan, back where Lady was first seen on Friday and Saturday evening. The first caller saw her running across Pilot Knob Road from Wendy’s and Chilis area towards U.S. Bank and a tire shop. Pilot Knob Road is a very, very high traffic road with 4 lanes, so this was frightening to hear.

Both me, My brother Tom, Vicki from Tuff Start Rescue and Cindy (who has been there every day) scoured the area or over an hour. No luck. We had given up the search and were heading out when Vicki saw Lady standing in the middle of Pilot Knob Road, trying to cross over. She slammed on her brakes to try and stop someone from hitting Lady, who was next to her driver’s side car door, but was going too fast to stop next to her and ended up flying past her. Because Lady was behind her then, she could not see if she had made it across or ran back to where she had been. Volunteers raced in from everywhere to look for her. With a confirmed sighting it was all hands on deck. They searched for over an hour with no luck, but at least now we know where she is (we think). As I mentioned above, the volunteers came across another lost dog hanging out in the same area and they set a trap for him. Hopefully, he is caught soon too.

In addition to the sightings in Eagan, we received two in Rosemount about a Sheltie that looked matted and muddy. He/She was roaming along Hwy 3 at the intersection of Hwy 55. Both the people who saw him/her called it in right away (God bless them) and I raced out there to see if I could find it and confirm if it was Lady. I did not see the dog, but I did run into an Inver Grove Heights officer and informed her. I also texted pictures of Lady to the people who had called in and they both said that they didn’t think it was her unless she was really, really muddy. Each had described the dog as being black and tan or black and gray. I left the area in relief, thinking that I would rather her not be out there alone where coyotes roam in packs, but you know that still leaves someone else’s dog out there all by itself. :(

So, the search continues. I think our best bet is the Pilot Knob area, but after talking to my friend Kellie, I am not completely closing the book on the sightings in Rosemount either. When Kellie saw Lady on Saturday morning, she was completely black from her midsection on down. And, she certainly would be muddy and matted if she had traveled out Rosemount way. There’s just no way of knowing. So Lady, we continue to watch for you and search for you and hope you make it home safely soon.

My continued thanks to those of you who have tweeted, shared on Facebook and who have volunteered or offered to help in some way. You are amazing people with huge hearts. I have a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Thank you.

Please continue to pray for Lady’s safe return and to share her story and pictures. You are making a difference. It’s only a matter of time – at least, that is what I hope and pray every day.

If you tweet, please retweet: Lost #Sheltie in #Eagan #Minnesota. Brown and white. Afraid of people. Tweet @melzpetpals if you see her.

If you are on Facebook, please ask your friends to share with their Minnesota friends a picture of Lady or refer them to her blog post from last weekend. I have pictures and video of Lady here.

My name is Lady. I’m a foster dog (F.D. for short) and I live with the blogger who writes this blog.

Tonight Mel, my F.M. (that’s short for foster mom), said I could take over the reins and write a little about myself. I was a bit nervous about writing a real blog post, after all it’s not easy typing with all four paws! But, after some serious doggie deep thinking (and a long nap), I decided that I was up for the task.

Since I’m looking for my forever home, it only makes sense that I would want to write about me. It’s very important that my new mom and dad know what I like and dislike. Being cute, I knew I would be irresistible once everyone saw my pictures and videos. They show me at my cutest and most adorable.

So, here goes!

My best feature – My swish (I know. It WAS hard to break it down to one thing.)

Me at my most adorable – (I know. I can’t help it. It just comes naturally for me.)

How could you resist me?

Me sleeping – (Yes. I pretty much do look this adorable all of the time.)

This is my sleeping pose

My favorite activity – Sniffing. Pretty much anything.
I sometimes get so busy sniffing that I forget to keep up with the group at the dog park. Luckily, my F.M. always makes sure she knows where I am and calls for me when I am getting behind.

Nope. Definitely not food.

Meeting new friends – I love to meet new friends.

He's kind of cute isn't he? He just found his forever home.

Sometimes friends have to help you sniff

My favorite place? The dog park.

I love this place!

I am constantly on the move at the dog park.

Me and my foster brother, Jasper.
Jasper and I love to chase one another around the house and then play wrestle. It always makes my F.M. laugh to see us during our “silly time.” She thinks it’s cute when we play – usually in the mornings and when she first gets home from work.

Jasper and I are best buds.

My foster brother can't go anywhere without his stick.

Me and my foster sister, Daisy (She likes to sniff too).
Daisy is kind of the big older sister I never knew I wanted. She always checks on me to make sure I am okay and even lets me play with her squeaky toys. Isn’t she nice?

Sniffing is best done with a friend. Don't you think?

My favorite picture of me (Mel says that she loves this one too).

The sun really does highlight my beauty.

After all that I can tell you are thinking that you want to adopt me. I don’t blame you. I would too if I were a human. To find out more about me go here and scroll down to Lady (that’s me!).

I’ll leave you with one more video of my adorable self. It’s Mel calling for me to come (I tend to get distracted by smells so she needs to remind me to keep up sometimes).